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Agriculture · head to head

FarmLogs vs Soil Scout

FarmLogs logo

FarmLogs

Agriculture

Simple, powerful farm management software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Soil Scout logo

Soil Scout

Agriculture

Buried wireless soil sensors with a ten to twenty year battery and no cables to the surface

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only FarmLogs has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: FarmLogs farm management plans are billed annually and cap at 20,000 acres, with larger operations required to contact sales for custom pricing; Soil Scout sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • They diverge on capability: FarmLogs covers Field mapping & boundaries, Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FarmLogs and Soil Scout actually diverge.

Attributes where FarmLogs and Soil Scout differ
AttributeFarmLogsSoil Scout
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in FarmLogs

  • Field mapping & boundaries
  • Activity tracking & logging
  • Satellite imagery analysis
  • Crop health monitoring
  • Weather & rainfall data
  • Yield tracking
  • Input cost tracking
  • Profit/loss analysis

Only in Soil Scout

  • Fully buried sensors
  • Ten to twenty year battery
  • Underground radio
  • Dual depth sensing
  • Moisture, temperature and salinity
  • Soil Scout Hub
  • Web service API
  • Long base station range

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

FarmLogs

  • Tracking farm operations, rainfall history and profit and loss under the FarmLogs product, now sold as Bushel Farmnot Soil Scout

Soil Scout

  • A golf course monitoring greens moisture where a surface-mounted probe would be hit by mowers and playnot FarmLogs
  • A stadium pitch under a closed roof where hand-held probing is impractical during the seasonnot FarmLogs
  • A research plot needing consistent multi-year soil data below cultivation depthnot FarmLogs
  • An irrigated field where a surface logger would not survive tillage or a spray boomnot FarmLogs

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

FarmLogs

  • Farm management plans are billed annually and cap at 20,000 acres, with larger operations required to contact sales for custom pricing
  • Machine data connections are a separate add-on costing $999 per year on top of the $599 per year Essentials plan

Soil Scout

  • Sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • No pricing is published at all, which makes it hard to justify against commodity probes that quote openly, and per-sensor cost is well above the alternatives.
  • It measures but does not control, so tying moisture readings to actual irrigation decisions requires either manual interpretation or a separate integration project with the control system.
  • Underground radio range depends on soil type and moisture; heavy wet clay attenuates the signal and can force more base stations than the headline kilometre figure suggests.
  • The company is small and Finland-based, so outside its established golf and sports turf distribution the support, spares and installation expertise depend entirely on whether a competent local distributor exists.

Pricing, plan by plan

FarmLogs

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Field mapping
    • Basic activity tracking
    • Weather insights
  • Essentials$20/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Satellite imagery
    • Crop health monitoring
  • Premium$50/month
    • Everything in Essentials
    • Advanced analytics
    • Profit & loss tracking

Soil Scout

On request
  • Soil Scout$undefined/year
    • Sensors and base station quoted per site
    • Hub subscription terms quoted with the hardware
    • No individual sensor data plans required

Which should you pick?

Choose FarmLogs if

  • You need field mapping & boundaries.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want activity tracking & logging.
FarmLogs review

Choose Soil Scout if

  • You need fully buried sensors.
  • You also want ten to twenty year battery.
Soil Scout review

Questions people ask

Is FarmLogs or Soil Scout better?
Neither clearly leads. FarmLogs starts at Free and Soil Scout at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FarmLogs or Soil Scout?
FarmLogs has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for FarmLogs and On request for Soil Scout.
Does FarmLogs or Soil Scout run on more platforms?
FarmLogs runs on Web, Ios, Android. Soil Scout runs on Web.
Can I use FarmLogs for free?
Yes. FarmLogs has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Soil Scout starts at On request.
What is FarmLogs best used for?
FarmLogs is most often used for tracking farm operations, rainfall history and profit and loss under the farmlogs product, now sold as bushel farm. Of those, tracking farm operations, rainfall history and profit and loss under the farmlogs product, now sold as bushel farm is not what Soil Scout is typically brought in for.
What can FarmLogs do that Soil Scout cannot?
FarmLogs covers Field mapping & boundaries, Activity tracking & logging, Satellite imagery analysis, Crop health monitoring. Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FarmLogs: What does the annual subscription cost for Bushel Farm?

Bushel Farm offers three main plans: Rainfall at $75 per year, Lite at $199 per year, and Essentials at $599 per year, which is marked as the best value tier. For farming operations exceeding 20,000 acres, custom pricing is available upon request. Machine data connections are available as an add-on for $999 per year.

Source
Soil Scout: How long do the sensors last?

Up to ten years for the Happi100 and up to twenty for the Hydra100, buried, with no battery replacement.

FarmLogs: Is there a free trial available without contacting sales?

Yes, Bushel Farm provides a 30-day free trial that gives access to all features. Users can explore the full platform capabilities during this period before committing to a subscription.

Source
Soil Scout: Do the sensors need mobile data plans?

No. Sensors transmit to a base station through the soil, and only the base station uses a cellular modem.

FarmLogs: What billing cycle does Bushel Farm use?

Bushel Farm bills annually with no hidden fees. The platform emphasizes transparent, straightforward pricing structures with yearly billing cycles.

Source
Soil Scout: Can it control irrigation directly?

No. It is a measurement and alerting system; controlling valves needs an integration with your irrigation controller through the API.

FarmLogs: What features does each Bushel Farm tier include?

Rainfall includes recent rainfall data, field mapping, soil maps, futures prices, and digital wallet access. Lite adds historical rain and heat data, monthly rainfall reports, automated contract entry, scouting, equipment and inputs tracking. Essentials provides profit and loss calculations, expense and revenue tracking, land costs, work orders, marketing tools, satellite imagery, local prices, and reporting capabilities.

Source
Soil Scout: What happens if a buried sensor fails?

You dig it up. There is no remote service option, which is the trade-off for having nothing above ground to damage.

FarmLogs: What devices can I access Bushel Farm from?

All subscription plans are accessible across phones, tablets, and desktop devices, providing flexibility for farm management from any location.

Source
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